How Sweet It Is
by lotr123rules
Summary: Sora and Kairi start their first day at Destiny High Grammar school. As the school year progresses fate has a few surprises for them. SoraXKairi pairings. It's my first fanfic please go easy on me R&R please!
1. Chapter 1 Performances

"Sora! Time for breakfast!" A woman called through the door to her son's bedroom.

"Kay mum, I'll be there in a second!" The boy, Sora, called back.

He pushed back the covers of his bed which had a huge picture of Spiderman on it (A/N: SO what, he likes Spiderman, you wanna start something? Lol family guy is awesum) Sora yawned and stretched, revealing Spiderman pajamas that appeared to be from his early childhood, as the "pants" that were supposed to be ankle length were now above his knee. The 5"9 boy slowly padded to his bathroom, still groggy from sleep. He looked up at his reflection and grinned. The brown mass of hair that he called his own stuck up at odd angles, seemingly defying the laws of gravity. Slowly dragging his fingers through it, he tried to tame at least his fringe, but to no avail. Sora sighed. 'Oh well, it'll do,' he thought. He pulled on his blue-black jeans and the white school polo shirt that read "Destiny Grammar College", and ran down the stairs.

"What's the time mum?" Sora asked, as he gobbled down his breakfast.

"8:45, you better hurry or else you'll be late for your first day of high school!" his mother called back.

Sora choked. "Ohmuhguh-I'm-gonna-be-late" he said inbetween spluttering.

"BYE MUM!" Sora yelled as he ran out the front door.

"But Sora you forgot your-" His mother called, running to the front door, but Sora was already sprinting halfway down the street. "…bag…" she finished saying.

'Ok I have five minutes to get to my locker and then home class…' Sora thought to himself. 'Piece of cake…'

"SORA! OVER HERE!" Someone called to him. Looking around he spotted his best friend.

"Hey man! What's happening, why aren't you in class?" Sora asked, jogging over to Riku.

"Maybe because there are no classes today, don't you remember Sora?"

"Uhhh-" Sora trailed off, deep in thought.

Riku rolled his eyes. "It's because-"

"WAIT! DON'T TELL ME!" Sora cut him off. Riku sighed, watching as Sora tugged a lock of hair as he thought.

"Today is perf…" Riku encouraged.

"OH NOW I HAVE IT! Today is performance day!" Sora said brightly, a proud look on his face.

"Very good, now we can train you to remember your abc's…" Riku said sarcastically.

"HEY! That wasn't very nice!" Sora said, pouting and punching Riku in the arm.

"OW!" Riku growled, lunging and tackling Sora to the ground.

"Uh-guys!" A feminine voice said. The two boys looked up to see a girl with shoulder-length, reddish brown hair cocking an eyebrow.

"Kairi!" Both of them yelled, jumping up only to tackle her to the ground.

"GUYS! Must you! This outfit is new!" Kairi squealed, however she didn't really mind…

"Oh…" Sora said, backing away. He was so cute; he always respected whatever Kairi said. He eyed her new outfit and gulped. She looked stunning in a slightly sparkly pink and white dress, that clung to her hips outlining her curves perfectly. All Sora could do was stare.

"Sora, you're practically drooling," Riku said, handing Sora a tissue. Kairi giggled as Sora swatted Riku's hand away ashamedly.

"How come you're wearing such a nice outift? Its only school," Sora asked her.

"I'm performing today," Kairi answered sweetly.

"Oh ok…Wait…What? Performance?" Sora looked startled. Riku pushed him.

"Mate, don't make me explain it again," Riku said, laughing, and Kairi giggled. Sora's "forgetfulness" was common.

Sora blushed, embarrassed. "Oh right…I remember now…" he mumbled.

"WOULD EVERYONE PLEASE REPORT TO THE GYMNASIUM FOR THE VIEWING OF THE PERFORMANCES," A voice blared through the speakers, making all three teens jump.

"Last one there has to smell my socks!" Kairi called to the other two, already running far ahead, towards the gym.

"Wah!" Sora and Riku exchanged looks. "Gross!" they both exclaimed, but then Sora grinned and ran after Kairi and soon Riku did the same.

Students were filing into the gym, and taking seats amongst their friends. Sora searched for Kairi.

"Yo, Riku! You seen Kairi?" He yelled to Riku, who was chatting up some random girl. Riku flapped his hand at Sora lazily. "Ugh! Some help he was," Sora muttered.

"Sora! Over here!" Sora turned his head to see a group of 8 or 9 people. He ran over to them and was swamped with hugs.

"Oh, I missed you guys!" He said affectionately. Sora looked around at his group of friends. They were such an odd group. There was Selphie, who was completely hyper, Namine and Roxas, who were both quiet and reserved, Tidus and Wakka were both sporty, Yuna was the in-between of hyper and reserved and Cloud and Leon were seniors while the rest were middle schoolers, Aerith was wise while Yuffie was sometimes obnoxious and ignorant but hey, that was their group! They wouldn't have changed it for the world. Oh, and there was Kairi and Riku, but they were a given.

"Oh! Have you guys seen Kairi?" Sora asked and Aeris and Selphie exchanged looks. Sora was happily oblivious.

"Sora, she's performing," Riku sighed frustratingly, obviously bored with the girl he was chatting to. "We've been through this already…"

"Oh yeah!" Sora smacked his forehead. The rest of the group groaned and rolled their eyes.

"What?" Sora asked them, looking hurt. Selphie came up and hit him playfully on the arm.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about it, Sora darling," she said patting him on the cheek and skipping off into the crowd, to find a good seat at the front. Sora ran after her, hoping to get revenge for her comment. The rest of the group exchanged looks, and then followed.


	2. Chapter 2 Senior School's A Drag

After the performance their group swamped Kairi.

"YOU WERE GREAT!" Selphie squealed. Kairi really did perform well. She sang a song from Hercules, called I Can Go the Distance, a few people in the audience cried.

Sora hung back from the group a little, and Kairi walked over to him.

"Hi So-ra," She said cutely, with her hands behind her back and swinging from side to side.

"Hey Kairi," Sora answered. "You were really great tonight."

"Thanks!" Kairi said, blushing.

There was silence for a moment.

"Umm… Kairi… Listen…I just wanted to-" Sora started before Riku jogged over, cutting him off.

"Hey guys, we're going to get pizza want to come?" he asked them.

Kairi glanced at Sora, and he agreed to go, so she did too. '_I wonder what he was going to say,' _Kairi pondered to herself, but shook it off as they joined the rest of their group.

The next day, classes were organized.

"RIKU!" Sora yelled over the din of 180 students chattering. "WHAT CLASS YOU IN?"

"10Rust!" Riku yelled back. Sora looked disappointed.

"Aww!" Sora groaned, making his way over to Riku. "I'm in Black!" (A/N: The classes are colour coded, all the classes are Black, Rust, Gold, Yellow, Navy and White and senior school in this fanfic starts at year 10).

Sora spotted Namine at the poster that listed the people in black. She looked a little disappointed.

"Selphie!" Sora beckoned her over. "Are you in Black?"

"Yeah…"Namine said a little sadly.

"So am I!" Namine's face brightened.

"Well at least someone I know's in my class," she sighed gratefully.  
A bell rang, blasting everyone to next week.

"I guess we'd better get to class, seeya later Riku," Namine and Sora waved goodbye to Riku and walked to their homeclass, which was in the labs.

"Gross! What's that smell?" Namine gasped, pinching her nose.

"That's just the normal smell in the lab," A man in his late 30's said, unperturbed as students flocked into the classroom, each one of them gasping and groaning. "I'm Mr. Olde's by the way, your homeclass teacher." Sora sized the man up. He looked nice enough, but then again this was high school. As Sora and Namine sat down, they realised they had more friends in this class than they thought. Namine spotted Yuna, Tidus and Wakka and nudged Sora.

"Hey guys!" He said, as he and Namine joined them. The five continued to gossip about high school, and what classes the other's were in.

"EXCUSE ME!" Mr. Olde's bellowed, silencing the room immediately. '_So much for being nice,'_ Sora thought. A poor unfortunate student kept talking, earning himself a cuff around the ears.

"Excuse me Mr Olde's but I think that is harassment," a boy chirped from the front row. He had a slightly feminine sounding voice.

Mr. Olde's glided over to him. "Oh you think, do you? Would you like to think some more in detention?"

"Uhh…" The boy said, thinking. "Um… not really…" He said, however he looked like he was still deciding whether he would or not.

"Hey Sora, looks like you got some competition for the Ditz of the Year award," Tidus said, nudging Sora in the ribs.

"They have one of those?" Sora whispered in awe, causing the five of them to giggle.

Sora looked confused but shrugged it off, and laughed along.

When the bell rang for recess, Tidus and Wakka left the group to go play blitz ball with the other jocks.

Yuna, Namine and Sora sat down in the Gazebo on the oval.

"Hey guys!" Kairi greeted them cheerfully. She sat down next to Namine, who was seated next to Sora. "Guess whose class I'm in!" Kairi whispered excitedly to Namine, while Sora was eavesdropping. Namine, being Kairi's best friend, knew exactly who Kairi was talking about. "He's not…?" Namine's mouth gaped open in awe. Kairi nodded excitedly, seeming for a moment like one of those bobble heads you can buy. "Yep! Briar Thorn is in my class!" Namine and Kairi squealed in unison.

"Whose Briar Thorn?" Sora asked, confused.

"Only the hottest guy in senior school!" Yuna exclaimed.

Sora looked hurt. "Hey, what about us?" Riku, Cloud and Leon walked up. "Yeah!" Sora seconded.

"Well…" The girls said blushing, they couldn't really say that four of their best friends were hot, however Selphie bounced up to the group.

"Of course you guys are hot!" She exclaimed. "DUH! Especially Cloudey," Selphie stroked Cloud's arm, while he looked extremely disturbed. "Don't be such a wimp I'm only teasing!" Selphie sat down with the others. The group gossiped for a while, occasionally watching the blitz ball game that was going on, oohing and aahing at Tidus and Wakka's spectacular saves, when Briar Thorn walked by.

Kairi, Namine and Yuna all exchanged looks, while Selphie was too busy arm wrestling Leon. Needless to say who won that match.

"Heya Kairi," Briar said in a deep, sexy voice. It was actually quite sleazy sounding, to Sora at least. "Do you wanna go to the beach with me tomorrow?" He asked her. Kairi nearly fainted. '_Briar Thorn just asked me out!'_ she was squealing mentally.

"Tomorrow?" She said weakly. "She'd love to go with you," Namine finished for her, as Kairi looked blissfully off into the distance, fantasizing about their date.

"Great, you can come too Blondey, if you're into that sort of thing," Briar said suggestively to Namine.

"Blondey has a name," Roxas shot at Briar, joining the group.

"Oh sorry, if she's yours you can have her, I like the red head better." And with that, Briar walked away. Roxas and Sora were fuming, whilst Namine and Kairi were off in La-La land, unaware of what was just said.

Sora nearly went after Briar, but Cloud held him back. "It ain't worth it mate, that guy's a jerk. Hopefully the girls'll see that."

"I'm not so sure…" Roxas said, glancing at the two who were giggling, a glazed look in their eyes.

"Well, we'll see soon enough, after they go on their "date"!" Sora said the word with remorse.

"Yeah, tomorrow we'll see," Roxas agreed.


	3. Chapter 3 Briar Thorn

It was a beautiful and sunny the next day, perfect for the beach. 'Damnit!' Sora cussed under his breath. 'Why couldn't it be raining?' He trudged down the stairs unhappily. Arriving at the frigde where he usually spent most of his free time, Sora pulled a note out from under a magnet of the RSPCA that had a picture of a cute puppy on it. 'Awww! Wil doggy!' Sora cooed, then turned his attention to the note. '_Sora honey I've gone out to a meeting in Mildura, and I will not be back until tomorrow evening, hope that's ok love mum XOX'. _'Aww man!' Sora groaned. 'Now I have to cook for myself.' Sora wandered over to the microwave where he placed some 2-minute noodles and set the timer. Checking the time on his mobile he realised he had 3 messages and 4 missed calls. They were all from Roxas. 'Oh crap! I'd better get moving! That Briar guy could be doing all sorts of things to Kairi!' He rushed up to his room and 2 seconds later was out the door and jogging down the street. On the way he bumped into someone.

"Roxas! What beach are they at?" Sora asked.

"Christies Beach," Roxas replied sourly. Christies Beach was the beach for couples, and people only went there to do one thing and it sure wasn't swimming.

"Let's go then." Sora and Roxas ran down the road towards the coast.

When they arrived they couldn't see the girls anywhere.

"Argh! Where's he taken them!" Roxas growled, growing more and more stressed about their current predicament.

The two wandered along the beach trying to ignore all the couples making out, and cough doing other things. The day gradually grew hotter, so the boys took off their tops, receiving too many wolf whistles to count, so they put them back on again in a hurry.

"Roxas, what if he does something with them? With Kairi? What if she allows it? Am I fighting a losing battle if she likes him, because he certainly likes her. They should be together if it makes her happy." When he didn't get an answer, Sora looked up to find that Roxas had frozen in his tracks, mouth gaping open. Following his line of sight, Sora found what had caused his friend to act so strangely. Kairi was in a bikini, playing volleyball with Briar, Namine and a couple of other people they didn't know. Sora was practically drooling as he watched Kairi flicking her hair and laughing gaily with the others.

"Hey guys!" Someone was calling to Roxas and Sora. It took them a moment to snap out of their stupor. Sora growled when he saw who was waving them over. He walked over to them, looking Briar up and down suspiciously. Why was he waving them over? And why were there other people on their "date"? Sora was confused, and by the looks of it so was Roxas.

"Hey! What are you guys doing here?" Kairi had just noticed their arrival, and sounded confused, but happy.

"Yeah, why are you two here on Christies Beach, together?" Briar Thorn said, raising an eyebrow. Sora and Roxas both blushed.

"Well, uh…you see…" Roxas stuttered.

"This place has choice waves, duh!" Sora cut off Roxas before he embarrassed himself, and Sora, too much.

"Uhh…There are no waves at Christies Beach…" Briar said, raising his eyebrow even further, if that was possible.

Sora looked out at the sea and sure enough the water was gently lapping the shore, not a wave in sight. He cussed inwardly.

This time it was Roxas' turn to save them. "Yeah, we know, we're headed down to Brighton."

"That's a long way away. And you're walking?" The speaker was Kairi.

Sora and Roxas exchanged glances. "Yeah we wanted to get some exercise."

Briar laughed and said, "You sure need it!" and everyone around them laughed as well. Sora felt his cheeks grow hotter and glared at Briar, who smirked at him. Roxas, however, was simply relieved that the girl's hadn't found out that they followed them there.

"Well, we were just packing up and calling it a day," Briar said. He sure seemed to be the leader of the group. Sora suddenly realised that Kairi and Namine were the only girls there, and the rest of them were boys. There were seven others all up. Sora shuddered as he thought about what could've happened. Seven guys could have easily out muscled Kairi and Namine.

"It's only two o'clock!" Kairi protested.

"Yeah sorry guys I need to finish an assignment for school, I don't want to fail," Briar said, sounding regretful.

"We'd better get going too, if we want to make it to Brighton by sunset," Roxas said. He and Sora waved goodbye to everyone and set off back the way they came.

"Uh guys!" Briar called after them. Sora shuddered. He hated even the sound of that jerk's voice. "Brighton's that way!" The noise of laughter rang in Sora's ears long after they had left the others.

"ARGH! I can't stand him!" Roxas growled once they were out of earshot.

"Yeah I know, did you notice the way he's trying to seem all innocent by saying he's going home to do homework. Sheesh, he must think we're dumb or something," Sora said, while Roxas muttered under his breath, 'Yeah how could anyone think you were dumb…' Unfortunately for him Sora heard this comment and rugby tackled the guy to the ground.

"Hey Sora! Geroff!" Roxas said, however the Sora was much stronger.

Sora jumped off and sprinted up the street. Roxas ran after him, pining to get him back. The chase persisted until they reached Roxas' house.

"Well I better go, bye Sora! Seeya tomorrow. The group is getting together at Bracegirdle's."

"Oh ok, bye!" Sora waved to Roxas and jogged home.

When he arrived home, Sora didn't go inside; instead he sat outside in his tree house. It had the best view of the ocean. As Sora sat there, he looked around, gazing at the walls of his tree house. Of course, it wasn't always his. Riku and Kairi had shared it with him. They had been his best friends since he was five. Everything they went through had been together, and most of it was in this tree house. Or at least, until they were too old to think tree houses were cool. Sora resented growing up. He missed the days where the three could be innocent and imaginative, without the boundaries and limitations that being in Year Ten sets. Sora sighed. He couldn't really complain, there had been worse times. Like in year three when guys couldn't talk to girls (and vice versa) because they had cooties. Not being able to talk to Kairi had been the worse emotional pain that Sora had ever experienced. After year three, however, their friendship picked up again, right where they left off, like nothing had ever happened. Darkness crept across the sky, making it hard for Sora to see, so he descended down the ladder to the tree house and went to bed.

That night he dreamt that darkness was swallowing Kairi, blocking out her being, and the darkness had the voice of Briar Thorn. Sora woke up in a sweat. 'I'm just being stupid, he can't be evil or anything,' Sora reassured himself. But he still felt as though some force was taking Kairi away from him.

Sora got up out of bed and had a shower to clear his head. By the time he got out of it he was whistling happily, almost forgetting his problems, almost… Sora jogged down to Bracegirdle, a favourite place of their groups. It does the best hot chocolates in all of Destiny Islands.

"Hey everyone!" Sora called out to them as he approached the table. Yuna, Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, Aerith, Riku, Namine, Cloud, Roxas and Kairi were all seated there. Next to Kairi and Namine was the back of someone's head that Sora didn't recognise, but he had a pretty good clue judging by the sour look on Roxas' face. The head turned around, only to reveal Briar Thorn's face, and an ugly smirk that was placed there.

"Hey there, Sora!" Briar said falsely cheery. Sora sighed and sat down next to Roxas, feeling that he was fighting a losing battle…

Author's Note: Sorry to all the Americans reading my fan fiction, a lot of the places I talk about are in Australia. So Mildura, Christie's Beach, Brighton are all in Aust, more precisely SA (South Aust), but I'm not sure about Mildura lol, shows how good I am at Geography. Bracegirdle's is a fabulous chocolate place in Adelaide, in SA and it really does do the best hot chocolates ever. Anyway hope you enjoyed it! Please R&R, especially if you don't like my fan fiction because I would really appreciate some constructive criticism, but I do appreciate complimenting reviews, it feeds my ego lol thanks everyone!


	4. Chapter 4 Triumph!

Hmm, I should probably be putting in disclaimers. I DO NOT OWN KH

Sora: You wish you did.

Me: Quiet you!

Okay here it is guys! The chapter where Briar Thorn is-

Sora: SHUSH! You're going to give it away!

Me: No I'm not…okay maybe I was, but I thought-

Sora: NO, I'm sure that they want to read it for themselves.

Me: Fine, without further ado, here is the fourth chapter.

* * *

Sora sipped at his hot chocolate in a foul mood. '_Stupid Briar Thorn…thinks he can take Kairi away from me…grrr,'_ he thought to himself. His mood was worsened when he looked up to see that Briar had his hand slung around Kairi and Namines' shoulders, like some pimp and his …cough lady friends…Sora was snapped out of his thoughts by a insistent tapping on his shoulder. He looked up ready to snap at the poker, who turned out to be Cloud. 'What is it?' Sora asked impatiently.

'_Sh! Just watch!_' Cloud whispered.

Sora watched as Selphie slowly got out of her chair. She was seated at the far side of the table, closest to the wall, so she had to walk past everyone. At the other end of the table was Briar, in the most opportune place. Selphie walked carefully and deliberately towards the end of the table, telling people she was going to the toilets. Sora could see she was watching the waitress who had a tray full of milkshakes. She timed her stepping so that as she reached the end of the table the waitress was walking past. Selphie pretended to stumble and knocked into the waitress, whose drinks toppled over and onto the unsuspecting victim below them. Briar Thorn was furious.

"Look what you've done! You clumsy bitch!" Briar snarled at the waitress, who ran off crying. Sora glanced at Kairi and Namine to see their reactions. They both looked astonished. '_So perfect, innocent Briar isn't so perfect anymore,_' Sora chuckled.

"Sorry!" Selphie called after her, before smirking at Briar. "Oh no, I'm _so _sorry Briar! I must have tripped," Selphie said in the fakest voice she could muster.

"Argh! It's my good shirt as well, you stupid hoe!" Briar turned his anger to Selphie. Kairi and Namine gasped.

"How dare you!" Kairi yelled at Briar, who in turn looked surprised.

"Wha-? What'd I do? Oh right, the whole bitch and hoe thing…" Briar said.

"You know what Briar Thorn? You are an ugly person. How dare you be so horrible to people, over mere accidents! I never want to see you again!" Kairi picked up her hot chocolate, which had gone cold, and tipped it right over Briar's head. Then she stormed into the girls' toilets, and Namine ran after her.

"Wait! Kairi, baby! I didn't mean it! I…uhh…Have that condition, you know where you randomly say swear words!" Briar called after Kairi, starting to go after her. However Cloud, Roxas and Sora blocked him.

"Oh, so what's the name of this condition?"

"Uhh…it's…umm…" Briar fumbled.

"Exactly," Cloud said, smirking.

"Let me through you great oaf!" Briar snapped at them.

"Let you through where? You can't go into the girls' toilets," Sora said.

"Oh wait, sorry we forgot, you are a girl," Roxas sniggered.

"Right this way, _madam_," Cloud bowed and stepped aside to let Briar through. Briar's face had gone an angry red,

"I'll get you, Sora," he said treacherously and pushed past them all and proceeded to run outside.

"Good luck with that!" Sora called after him, and the three cracked up laughing. They retreated back to their table, and laughed again with the others. Sora high-fived Selphie, and they all complimented her on her acting, and not to mention coordination skills.

A little while later, Kairi made an appearance, only to tell everyone she was leaving.

"Kai, are you okay?" Sora asked.

"I'm fine," She replied, sniffing.

"Ok, well I'll see you later, 'kay?"

"Okay," she smiled weakly, then waved goodbye to everyone and walked out.

"I feel bad now," Sora said guiltily.

"Don't," Cloud said. "That jerk deserved it."

"I know, but now Kairi is upset," Sora sighed. "I think I'll go home now. Seeya tomorrow everyone!" Sora waved goodbye and walked out.

Deep in thought, he decided to walk along the beach that was in front of Bracegirdle. _'I know I shouldn't be feeling guilty because Briar deserved it, but at least Kairi was happy before.' _A thought hit Sora, intensifying his guilt. _'I think she was crying! Aw man…' _Sora kicked the sand in front of him angrily.

"Hey, watch where you're kicking that stuff!" A familiar voice said indignantly. Sora looked up and saw Kairi kneeling. There was something in front of her.

"That looks like writing…" Sora said and Kairi quickly wiped it out with her hand. '_Hmmm wonder what it said.'_

As if reading his mind, Kairi quickly said, "Oh, don't worry it was nothing, just a list of things I have to do." She was clearly lying, but Sora didn't care. He just wanted to apologise.

"Kai, I'm really sorry," he said sincerely.

"What?" Kairi looked startled.

Sora sat down next to her and went on, "Well, I never really supported you in liking Briar, and well, I'm sorry."

"Sora! You were right! You should be saying I told you so!" Tears welled up in Kairi's eyes. Sora was confused.

"What? What did I say?"

"Oh! It's just that, well… You're such a good friend!" Kairi hugged Sora and they remained like that for several moments. It was pure bliss, Sora had Kairi in his arms, a gentle sea in front of him and life was just…bliss! As Kairi went to pull away from the hug, Sora gulped. _'Well here goes nothing,' _he thought to himself. "Kairi… There was more than one reason why I didn't like Briar. He is a jerk, but the other reason, that you may have not known, was that…well…" Sora stumbled. "I was jealous. Because…well…because…." Sora was at a loss for words, so instead he cupped her chin and kissed her delicately. He pulled away and looked into Kairi's eyes for a moment waiting for her to say something, anything, to let him know she felt the same.

"I, uh, I have to go," Kairi said and ran off.

'_What! That's it?' _Sora thought in despair. He remained staring at the ocean, for at least another hour, thinking about his childhood memories. He was remembering when he first realised he liked Kairi. He was five years old, and she was sitting out by the ocean when he walked up to her.

_Start Flashback_

_A short, spiky haired boy walked up to a girl sitting with her feet in the ocean. His hands were hidden behind his back._

"_Hey Sora! Watcha got there?" the girl asked him. _

"_Oh, well…Kairi, do y'wanna share a Poupou with me?" He looked somewhat nervous as he held out the fruit. The girl grinned._

"_We don't need a Poupou because I know we'll be friends forever!" She said cheerfully, launching onto him to hug him tightly. _

"_Kairi, you're getting mushy!" Sora complained and Kairi just giggled, blushing. _

_End Flashback_

Sora knew it was silly and immature to still like her, after all that was ten years ago but he didn't feel so completely comfortable with anyone else. With Kairi he could be so completely himself, and she still liked him for it. Sora had had other girlfriends, or flings but none of them had lasted long. One girl that Sora had went out with, her name was Tiffany, had basically made him change everything about himself so that he could be worthy of having her in his life. Yeah, Sora had had some pretty crummy relationships to say the least. Also, it wasn't just that Sora could be comfortable with Kairi; it was that Kairi (next to Riku) had been the most consistent thing in his life. Sora's mum was constantly going away, and he had limited memories of her ever being there for him. When Sora's dog had died, his mum had rushed off to some meeting and just offered to buy him a new one. '_And now I've ruined my friendship with Kairi, because of one kiss!'_ Sora thought, and slammed his fist into the sand next to him. _'I'm such an idiot!' _He sighed, and started to walk home.

He arrived at his house and noticed the shadow of a person in his tree house. Running over to it and climbing up the rope ladder, Sora was saying, "Whoever's up there better get out! Only three people are allowed in my tree house!" He was getting really worked up. This was Kairi, Riku and his tree house _only_, how dare anyone trespass on it! Sora reached the top and was about to yell at the trespasser, when he noticed who the person was. Sora's mouth gaped open.

"Kairi?" He asked in disbelief.

Instead of answering, she simply walked over to him and kissed him passionately.

* * *

Author's note: Okay, I have so much to say, but where to begin? First of all, I'm sorry about the swearing, but I just had to make Briar seem horrible. And I know its tone has changed much from the first few chapters, but I had to put some depth into Sora's character. Anyway, I thought I had more to say, turns out I've forgotten, lol. I know it was inconsistent but please bear with my, it is my first fan fiction after all. Please R&R!

PS: Oh and a Poupou for non-Kingdom Hearts readers, is said to entwine two peoples destinies together when shared.


	5. Chapter 5 New Kid

Disclaimer: Once again, i don't own Kindgom Hearts sobs 

Hey thanks to all those people who reviewed! It's great encouragement for me!

Sora: Yeah just don't encourage her toooo much, her heads already fat.

Me: Shh! don't to him, he's crazy...crazyyyy...

* * *

On the way to school the next day, Sora met up with Kairi. He walked up to her door, and knocked. Kairi stepped out.

"Bye mum!" She called, then looked at Sora and smiled, shutting the door behind her.

"Hey Kai," Sora said, uncertainly. He didn't know where he stood with her. They hadn't discussed the whole "kissing" incident.

"Hey Ra," she answered.

"Ra?" Sora asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I'm trying out new nicknames for you."

"Hmm…I don't think Ra is quite right…" Sora said hoping to dislodge the weird nickname from Kairi's brain. '_At least things aren't awkward between us,' _Sora thought.

"Okay sorry," she said. Then added quickly, "RA!" and ran off.

"Hey!" Sora yelled, running after her. The chase was kept up right until they arrived at the school gates. Sora gave Kairi a sideway glance, and swung his hand so that it touched hers. She blushed a little, and twined her fingers with his. They walked into school together like that. They were both in such a state of oblivion that they didn't notice the bell ringing which was hard to miss…

"Yo, airhead!" Riku yelled in Sora's ear, rapping him lightly on the head. Sora quickly dropped Kairi's hand, treating it as if it were a hot potato.

"Riku! Hey what's up?" Sora asked, hoping that Riku hadn't seen them holding hands. He wasn't sure if he wanted people to know about him and Kairi yet, it seemed more special if it was a secret.

"Well, considering you are both about ten minutes late for class, I'd say not much?" Riku said, causing them both to yelp and race for their lockers without so much as a goodbye to Riku.

"Yeah cya…" Riku said, smiling. '_It's good to see those two are finally together,' _he thought.

Sora ran up to the door to his classroom, stopping to catch his breath. Just as he was about to knock on the door, the said object opened. A looming figure glared down at him. Sora gulped.

"Uh, hi Mr. Oldes how are you?" Sora said feebly.

"Excuse me?" Mr Oldes said ominously.

"I said, how are you…?" Sora said puzzled. The man was old (A/N: no pun intended), but he wasn't deaf.

"DETENTION!" Mr Oldes said, his face going red as he ushered Sora into the classroom.

"I can't believe I thought he was nice…" Sora muttered under his breath.

"Excuse me?" The phrase was becoming the old man's trademark.

Sora just sighed and sat down next to Namine.

"Now class, we are going on an excursion to the ice arena," Mr Oldes said, and everyone cheered.

"However, it is purely for scientific reasons!" He continued, raising his voice to be heard over the clamour of wooting. Everyone groaned.

"Mr Oldes!" A boy chirped from the front row.

"Yes Danny, what is it?"

"Well, before I ask my question, I would just like to tell you to call me Danielle, that is my name in Italian." The boy said matter of factly.

"But that's a girl's name," Sora whispered to Namine, who just shrugged. "Go figure."

"Sora!" Mr Oldes turned around to point at him. "I'm trusting you would not like double detention?"

"Sir no Sir!" Sora said, standing up and saluting the man.

"Three Wednesdays it is then," Mr Oldes hissed through his teeth. Sora sat down before he got himself into any more trouble.

"Mr Oldeessss!" Danny whined.

"Yes boy what is it?" The teacher snapped.

"Well," the boy said, in a slow, annoying tone. "Will the ice arena be cold?"

The whole class groaned.

"Really! Even Sora's not that dumb!" Yuna whispered loud enough for their table to hear.

"HEY!" Sora said, offended, although he didn't really understand why Danny's question was so ditzy.

The bell rang, signalling the end of Admin.

"Oh, and class!" Mr Oldes said, as people started gathering their things. "We'll be going on the excursion with 10Navy."

"Hey, isn't that Kairi's class?" Wakka said, nudging Sora in the ribs.

"Yeah it is!" Sora said, elated. '_Oh crap! I shouldn't be so enthusiastic!' "_I mean, yeah I think it is…" Sora said quickly.

"Sure whatever," Wakka said in a carefree tone.

Sora was daydreaming about all the romantic possibilities an ice arena could offer for him and Kairi, when Tidus pushed him in the back.

"Tidus!" Sora yelled, objecting to the pain.

"What? We do have class now and you are blocking the doorway," Tidus said, and then added jokingly "Ya fat lard!"

Napoleon Dynamite was legendary at they're school, so about ten people behind and in front of Tidus, Wakka, Yuna, Namine and Sora immediately started quoting from the movie.

"Hey I got to go to my English class now," Sora said. He was in the top English class. Though most people couldn't tell when they first met Sora, he was actually very smart. He received the top marks in his English class for poetry and Essays, and creative story pieces. He was looking forward to his first English lesson, and he was ecstatic that he had Mrs. Young as a teacher. She was easily the best teacher at Destiny Grammar College, although there wasn't much to compete with. '_I wonder who else is in my English class…' _Sora pondered. He hadn't bothered to check if his friends were in his class, he was too busy doing other things, like eating!

As Sora walked in, he saw that there were only two people that he was a good friend with in his class, one of whom was Kairi. Catching her eye, Sora waved and grinned. Kairi motioned to the seat beside her but a body had suddenly occupied itself there. Sora looked to see whom it was, and growled when he found out.

Briar Thorn was sitting there, next to Sora's girlfriend. Sora just glared at the smirking boy and went and sat next to a brown haired new kid.

"Hey," Sora smiled at the boy. "My name's Sora, what's yours?"

"I'm Denzel," the boy said, smiling back. Sora gave him a once over, and decided there was something peculiar about the way he was dressed. Denzel had long baggy pants on, and a long sleeved baggy jumper that covered his hands. No skin could be seen, other than Denzel's face. The boy was also wearing a scarf.

"Aren't you hot?" Sora asked wonderingly.

Denzel went white. "Nah, it's cold in these rooms anyway," he said, tight lipped. Sora was confused. He didn't know what he did wrong. Mrs. Young walked to the front of the classroom to start the lesson.

After about half an hour, Mrs Young announced to the class they could have a break and talk. Denzel's anger at Sora seemed to have subsided, and he started talking to him about the school.

Sora peered closely at the boys face and decided he was kind of young looking.

"Hey, Denzel, how old are you?" Sora asked curiously.

"I just turned 14," Denzel answered.

"Woah, but that's like a whole year younger than us!" Sora said in awe

"Yeah," Denzel smiled sheepishly. "I skipped a grade."

Sora was impressed.

"Man, you must be smart!"

All Denzel could do was smile. At the end of English (which was a double) the bell rang. Sora gathered up his things, and began to walk out of the classroom, but saw that Denzel was looking forlorn.

"Denzel!" Sora called to him. "You want to hang out with my friends and I at recess?" Denzel's face lit up with a smile and he nodded eagerly.

Sora walked up to his group of friends who were seated at the quadrangle.

"Hey guys!" He said happily. "This is my new friend Denzel!"

"HEY DENZEL!" the other twelve chorused. Denzel waved back.

After introductions were made, Selphie dragged Denzel over to where she was sitting, and he seemed content to watch her playing mercy against Cloud.

"Hey Ra, sit over here!" Kairi motioned to Sora.

"GR!" Sora said. "Would ya stop with the Ra it makes you sound like some sort of animal."

"Me? I believe it was you who just gr-ed!" Kairi said, punching Sora playfully on the arm. Meanwhile Roxas and Namine were making faces.

"Sheesh! Why don't cha get a room you two!" Roxas said, while Namine wolf whistled. Kairi and Sora blushed.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Kairi said, turning redder and redder by the minute.

"Hehe! They're so cute!" Namine said to Roxas.

"OH!" Selphie suddenly yelled, causing them all to jump. "I forgot to tell you guys! My parents are organising a black-and-white tie dinner party and you're all invited!" (Selphie's parents were extremely rich)

This caused everyone to chatter excitedly.

"BUT!" Selphie had to raise her voice to be heard. "There is one rule. You all have to bring dates!" She said, grinning evilly.

* * *

Okay, there's something big happening with Denzel, so watch what i say with him. Although you can probably all tell what it is. The actual confrontation of it probably won't be for awhile though... 

Oooh! I bet you're all wondering whose going to take who to the party...well..we'll just have to wait and see!Laughs evilly review, and maybe i'll tell you all next chappie! mwahahahahaha ...teehee... Ra! Sora is called Ra! Teehee crazy Kairi..well anyway i'm probably scaring you all with my raving, so just remember to REVIEW!

Also i'm kinda getting cold feet with this story, and am thinking of discontinuing it. HOWEVER if you want me to continue, please tell me.


	6. Chapter 6 Ambulances

Okay so i lied, i love writing this story too much to discontinue..tehehe

* * *

"Selphie!" Roxas groaned. "Do we have to?"

Selphie nodded her head emphatically. "C'mon, it'll be fun!"

'_But what if she rejects me?' _Roxas thought to himself, glancing sideways at a certain blonde haired person sitting next to him.

"Well!" Cloud said. "I know who I want to ask!" and with that said, he walked off.

"Wait! Can't you tell us?" Selphie yelled after him, burning with curiosity.

"Nope, you'll find out on the night!" Cloud called back, smirking.

"Guys, it's not that bad!" Kairi said encouragingly, trying to cheer the group up.

"Well, miss Optimistic, who are you going to take?" Namine asked Kairi. Kairi blushed and said falteringly, "I don't know…" and exchanged glances with Sora. _'Well at least they have each other, even if they don't know it. I doubt **he** would even think of me that way,'_ Namine thought, accidentally brushing arms with Roxas. She looked up to see Roxas smiling at her, and immediately started blushing.

Meanwhile Kairi and Yuna gave each other a knowing look, and Yuna said, "It's not like you two will have a problem getting dates!"

"What!" Roxas and Namine exclaimed in unison.

Kairi winked at them. "I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Namine spluttered.

"Who are you going with?" Sora asked Leon changing the subject.

"Good question," Leon said. "Hey Paine, you wanna go with me to a dinner party?" A tall girl walked by. She was slightly goth looking, if slightly means a lot.

"Why not," Paine said, unphased by the sudden question and just continued to walk without getting any details.

"I guess I'm going with Paine now," Leon said, grinning at the shocked people.

At that moment the bell rang, and the group separated off to go to their lockers. While Sora was walking, he noticed someone just behind him. Turning his head, he realized it was Denzel.

"Hey man!" Sora said, slightly guiltily. He had forgotten all about Denzel during the excitement of Selphie's dinner party.

"Hey," Denzel answered in a sad voice.

"What's up?"

"N-nothing!" Denzel said in a fake cheery voice, stuttering a little.

Sora decided to let it alone. He didn't know Denzel that well, and he didn't want to be nosy.

"Well, see you later Sora, I have to go to Maths now," Denzel said waving cheerfully to Sora. Sora smiled a goodbye, as his hands were full with his books. Denzel walked around the corner, and as soon as he was out of eyesight of Sora, he collapsed on the wall, clutching his stomach. He pulled up his jumper, revealing a huge black welt that stretched across his belly. Another person rounded the corner, and Denzel hurriedly yanked down the cloth.

"You all right man?" A boy asked as he passed by. Denzel just nodded, smiling weakly. '_I can't go to Selphie's,' _he thought sadly. _If I do, people will see my…sickness…'_ Coughing, he trudged on to his Math's lesson.

Sora, in the meantime, met up with Kairi.

"Hey Ra," Kairi said with a smile. Sora sighed. She was never going to give up this whole "Ra" business.

"Hey Kai," he said tiredly. Suddenly perking up he said, "You know what? I think we should use this dinner party thing to include Denzel into our group a bit more!"

"Yeah!" Kairi said enthusiastically. "He seemed a bit out of it before."

"Mmm," Sora said, nodding his head. "So, Kairi…" Sora began, before he was cut off by a familiar drawl. Sora turned around and his smile turned into a scowl.

"What'd you want?" Sora spat.

"Chill, I just wanted to talk to Kairi, or is she your property now?" Briar Thorn said, and smirked at Kairi. Sora wove his arm protectively through Kairi's.

"If she's not, then you won't mind if I take her to Selphie's party then?" Kairi and Sora looked at each other in shock. They couldn't believe that Selphie would invite this moron!

"Good, so it's a date?" Briar said, and without waiting for a reply he walked off.

Sora and Kairi both just stood there dumbfounded.

"You can't go with him," Sora said finally.

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "Oh, and you're the boss of me now are you?" Kairi said fiercely.

"Kai, I didn't mean it like that!"

"I'm your 'property' am I?"

"Hey, I didn't agree with that!"

"You didn't disagree!" Kairi shot back, and then she walked away, tossing her hair over her shoulders.

'_Oh great,' _Sora moaned. The bell rang, and Sora had to run to his class in order not to be late.

It was health.

Sora walked in and sat next to Riku as the teacher was introducing himself.

"Good morning class," a tall, muscly teacher with blonde hair and a toothpick in his mouth barked. "My name is Cid."

"Uhh, Cid what?" Someone asked from the back of the class.

"Just Cid!" The man snapped. "Today, we will be learning about ligaments…"

After the word 'learning' Sora just tuned out. He didn't like Health, he didn't even want to do it but it was the only elective left. Looking out the window, he spotted a familiar red haired girl. Sora was watching Kairi run laps of the oval outside, when Riku jabbed him hard in the ribs.

"_What?" _Sora whispered furiously, rubbing his side.

Riku just pointed towards the front, where Cid was standing glaring at Sora. Sora smiled feebly at the teacher.

"Uh, yeah?" He asked in a small voice. This teacher was scary.

"Uh yeah you like got detention," Cid said, mimicking Sora.

'_My voice isn't really that high, is it Riku?" _Sora whispered to his best friend.

"Fine, two Wednesdays. Meet me here after class, today being your first one," Cid barked. "Anyway so the femur is connected to the…" He continued, and Sora once again tuned out. '_Great now I have five Wednesdays all up,' _Sora thought. Turning his attention to outside again, Sora watched with jealousy as Briar Thorn flirted with Kairi. '_By all means, this makes no sense! Shouldn't she still be angry at him from the chocolate shop incident?' _Sora wondered. '_Well, I guess she's more angry at me now,'_ he thought sadly.

About ten minutes later, Kairi's class went into the gym, and another class came out. Sora saw Denzel and, completely forgetting he was in class, tried to wave. But he stopped his arms in mid air as he watched what Denzel was doing. The boy, who had been running, now stopped and leant against the wall. He then fell to the ground and started convulsing.

"Cid!" Sora yelled, raising his hand and waving it frantically, still watching the horrifying scene before him.

"What is it boy?" Cid walked over to where Sora was. All Sora could do was point at the small heaving figure of Denzel.

"Oh my…" The toothpick that had occupied Cid's mouth fell out. "Someone use the phone over there and call an ambulance!" He ordered, but no one could move. Everyone had crowded around the window, and now they were all in shock. Most people had never seen anything like this in their school life, well the lucky ones at least. Sora snapped out of his stupor and ran to the phone. Once he had called an ambulance, he ran outside. No one had even noticed him, lying there on the ground, occasionally twitching.

"Denzel!" Sora cried out, and the boy moved his head slightly. But his eyes were rolled back into his head. The boy was unconscious. Sora moved him onto his side, remembering all his first aid training, and checked Denzel's pulse. He was still breathing. In all the movement Sora had done to Denzel, the boy's jumper had rolled up slightly. Sora saw tattooed on the boys skin a huge, painful looking welt. '_So this is why he wears baggy clothes,' _Sora thought, reverently pulling Denzel's jumped back down. At that moment Cid came running up, along with half the class. The teacher of Denzel's gym class finally noticed the commotion and was walking over with his class. Once Cid had checked Denzel, he strolled over to the teacher, who happened to Mr Oldes.

"What happened?" Mr Oldes asked.

"How can you not know?" Cid yelled at him. "You're the teacher, you're supposed to be looking after your students, not gallivanting about doing nothing! It's been a good five minutes since this boy has been unconscious. HE COULD HAVE DIED!" Cid bellowed in Mr Oldes face. The other teacher had been growing redder and redder. Sora was listening to Cid's rant, and in his books, Cid had gained about fifty brownie points. Denzel moaned and moved slightly, and Sora called out to Cid. The moment Cid had turned away Mr Oldes stalked off.

"Sora?" Denzel asked weakly, seeing the spiky haired boy's face. Sora couldn't say anything. He had never seen someone have a seizure before. It was frightening.

"Don't worry kid, we'll have you in a hospital soon," Cid said gently, saving Sora from having to speak. Sora decided this teacher was his favourite. '_I don't think I'll mind having Wednesdays with him,' _Sora thought to himself.

**Weeoooweeeoooweeoooweeoooweeooo**

The sound of the ambulance filled the silence that had fallen upon the group of students, and teacher. The paramedics came running out of the vehicle and checked Denzel. They moved him onto a stretcher and carted him into the ambulance. One of the paramedics noticed Sora standing next to him.

"Will he be alright?" Sora asked softly.

"Yeah don't worry," the paramedic said kindly. "He'll be okay."

Another paramedic added quietly "This time." But Sora did not hear him.

"He's just going to the hospital on Destiny Islands right?" Sora was thinking of going to visit Denzel after school.

"Probably, but then he might be moved. Destiny Islands isn't really equipped for this sort of case," the paramedic replied, but then they were ready to go.

"See you kid," the paramedic said to Sora, smiling kindly at him.

"Yeah, bye," Sora answered waving slightly, his mind troubled. '_I wonder what he meant by "this sort of case"?'

* * *

_

Okay, there it is CONFLICT! woohoo with Denzel, oh poor wil Denzy! Oh well.. And i bet you're all wondering who Cloud goes to the dinner party with? Well, you're just gonna have to wait and find out..tehehee. 


	7. Chapter 7 Kairi and WHO?

All night Sora couldn't sleep. He kept dreaming that he was running through the white corridors in a hospital, looking for Denzel. Every time he opened a door, he would see Kairi inside kissing Briar. The next day he woke up with bloodshot eyes and a pounding headache.

"Sora," his mother called through the door.

"mmghmm," Sora grumbled, too tired to move his mouth.

"We got a call from the hospital," his mother continued. Sora's eyes opened wide and he ran to the door and yanked it open.

"And?" he practically yelled. "Is Denzel alright?"

"Yeah he's okay. He's just really weak. I don't know why he called here though. You must be really good friends." Sora's mum walked away.

He remembered that they had swapped numbers in English the other day.

As Sora got ready, his mother's words echoed inside his head. "_You must be really good friends."_ They'd only just met, but Denzel seemed to have no other friends. A resolution set in Sora's mind and he bolted downstairs.

"Mum!" he called, just as she was opening the front door. "Do you mind if instead of going to school today, I go to see Denzel with a couple of the others?"

"Sure honey, I'll just clear it with the school."

A quarter of an hour later Sora, Namine, Roxas, Selphie and Cloud were on their way to the Destiny Islands Hospital.

"Hey!" Selphie said in a bubbly tone. The secretary just cast her a bored expression.

"What is it?"

"We're here to see our friend Denzel," Selphie said, her smile not drooping one bit.

"Down the hall to the left," and with that the secretary blew a bubble of her gum in Selphie's face. Selphie just grinned.

The moment the group of them walked away, the smile dropped off her face. "What a bitch!" she muttered to them. Sora smiled despite the gloomy atmosphere of the hospital.

The five walked past the hospital gift shop. Cloud stopped them all, suggesting they all pitch in some money to get Denzel something. Inside the shop, they split up looking for a good present. Sora walked past a whole shelf full of Valentine's Day items.

"Hey Selphie!" Sora called to the brunette.

"Yeah?"

"Valentine's Day isn't until the 14th of February is it?"

"Yeah," Selphie said and continued to searching the shelves.

'Hmm…' Sora thought to himself. February 14th was a whole month away! He looked at the items for sale with curiosity. The were the usual cliché things, like the teddy bear that said, "I heart you" or the box of chocolates in the shape of a love heart. However, something at the very far corner of the display caught Sora's eye. He picked it up and peered at it. It was a charm bracelet. There was a charm of a Poupu fruit and there was one of a crown, and one of a sort of key thing. Sora's train of thought lead him to Kairi.

Ten minutes the later they walked out with chocolates, flowers and a get well soon card. Sora pocketed the charm bracelet with a huge grin on his face.

They followed the secretary's directions (which weren't very helpful) and came to a ward. The woman hadn't told them which room Denzel was in, so they walked along the corridor peeking inside the rooms that had their doors open.

"Hey guys! It's this one!" Cloud called out the others.

A passing nurse shushed him. When the others caught up, Cloud muttered, "What is this, a library?"

Sora opened the door and cautiously stepped inside. He hated hospitals, ever since his grandmother had fallen ill with cancer. Everyday he'd visit her in hospital even though he loathed the atmosphere. She had been in the ward with all the other elderly people and everyday he'd sit there with her, while some of the others there never had any visitors. It had filled him with sorrow and once she passed away, he had resolved to never go there again. '_But here I am,' _he thought.

"Sora?" A weak voice called from the bed. Sora walked up to Denzel, grinning cheerfully.

"Hey man! How ya doin'?

"Still breathing," Denzel smiled.

Sora felt the others' presence behind him and nudged Cloud who in turn nudged Namine. It was like dominos. Selphie was the last to get nudged and she walked forward holding out the gifts to Denzel. The younger boy's eyes went wide and he looked around at each of them.

"Guys, you really didn't have to," he said in an awed voice. "You've known me all of what, one day, maybe two?"

"Well, kid, we're hoping your planning on sticking around eh?" Cloud said, stepping forward to ruffle Denzel's hair.

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing cards and listening to music in Denzel's room. No one asked him why he was there, no one thought it necessary. '_He'll tell us when it feels right,' _Sora thought. Another thought struck him simultaneously.

"Hey Denzel, you're coming to Selphie's right?" Sora asked him.

"Yeah! Denzel, you gotta!" Selphie enthused.

"Oh, I'd like to," Denzel began. '_There's no reason for me not to go now that they all know. "_But, I don't' know if I'll be well before you have it."

"I'm postponing it till you get well, then!" Selphie said stoutly.

Denzel laughed. "Then I guess I have to come!"

Sora arrived home in a good mood. The afternoon hadn't been all that horrible. He had spent it with his friends, even though it was a hospital. _'Maybe hospitals aren't that bad?' _he thought. '_I wonder what the other's got up to at school.'_

When Sora got home, he ran upstairs and logged onto his computer. He signed onto the instant messenger and five conversations appeared at once.

**Princess Peach says: **

Sora! You missed it! Did you hear what happened at school yet? You won't believe it!

**Rikuisdaman says: **

Sora! You're going to want to punch someone when you hear this so can I bring my lil bro over and tell u in person?

**Aerith:**

Heaps of people must be asking you this right now, but did you hear what happened at school?

The rest of the conversations ran along the same lines as, "Did you hear what happened at school?" Sora just logged out without chatting to anyone and sprinted over to Riku's house, which was just down the road. Sora hammered on the front door, his heart filling with dread. The only reason why people would be asking him is he knew what happened is if it involved him. Sora hated conflict almost as much as he hated Briar Thorn. Riku opened the door just as Sora was about to knock.

"Woah, watch it there bud!" Riku exclaimed as Sora narrowly avoided accidentally knocking on Riku's face instead of the door.

"Whathappenedatschool?" Sora said in one breath, anxious to just hear it and get it over with.

"Hang on just let me get the little brat so you can use him an anger vent," Riku tried to retreat back inside while calling "Brat get out here!" when Sora grabbed his sleeve.

"Tell me NOW!" Sora said in a frustrated voice.

"Okay, okay. Well. Word on the school hall is that Briar and Kairi are **going steady**."

Boy was Sora going to kick that guy's arse.

After bidding farewell to Riku, Sora decided he was too angry to go home and bum around. Instead, he jogged down to the beach, thinking things over.

'_Kairi wouldn't do that. She wouldn't kiss me and then go out with Briar Thorn, just because of one fight. The fight wasn't even that sensible! How could she do that to me!' _The only reasonable answer was that she didn't.

Sora resolved to get the full story from Kairi the next day.

That night Sora dreamt that the tree house was full of strangers. They were ripping apart all the photos of Sora and Kairi. Sora woke up just as they were tearing the last one. The spiky haired boy walked into his bathroom and had a shower. He got out and put on his school uniform. A few of his clothes from yesterday's trip to the hospital lay strewn about, so Sora did a little cleaning. He picked up the pants he had worn and as he did the charm bracelet he bought for Kairi fell out. Smiling, he picked it up. '_If words don't work as an apology, I'm sure this will,' _Sora thought.

He met up with Riku on the way to school. Sora grinned cheerfully to the silver haired boy.

"Hey Riku!" he called. Riku stopped and peered closely at Sora's face, inspecting him as if there were something wrong with him.

"You're taking this surprisingly well," Riku said suspiciously. "What have you got up your sleeve?"

Sora looked surprised. "Nothing! I just figure that Kairi wouldn't do that to me. I have faith in her."

"All right man, but if it were me I would have murdered Briar in his sleep," Riku said, only _half_ jokingly.

The minute Sora walked through the school gates everyone started whispering to each other inaudibly.

"What are they whispering about?" Sora asked curiously.

"About you, Kairi and Briar, der brain!" Riku said.

"Wah! Why would they? It's not as if Kairi and me posted bulletins about us!" Sora exclaimed and then suddenly held his hand over his mouth, realising that he had just told Riku about his relationship with Kairi.

"Get over it Sora, I knew you two'd end up together years ago," Riku said flippantly, waving a hand at Sora. "And I'm guessing they all did too," he gestured to the school students.

"Well," Sora said huffily. He had thought that he had been keeping that secret well, but obviously not.

Riku ruffled his hair, sensing his friend's oncoming bad mood. "Don't get in a bad mood yet will ya? Save it for Briar."

"Oh yeah! I have to go see Kai-" The bell signalling the beginning of lessons rang and Sora had no time to finish his sentence, let alone act upon it.

He bolted to his locker and then to his home class. Mr Olde's was guarding the door like an old man guards his teeth.

"You're late Mr. Hikaru," he said nastily to Sora. (A/N: Sorry I couldn't come up with a better last name for Sora)

"Yeah, well whatever," Sora said, not in the mood to deal with this teacher.

"Detention," Mr Olde's said viciously.

"What? I don't want to be under your "supervision", or rather lack of."

Mr Olde's went red and just pointed to Sora's seat. The brunette sat down, noticing that the teacher had written up a tally of the detentions Sora owed. He was up to 6. Sora's mood worsened.

First up in the morning was double English, which cheered Sora up measurably. Sora walked into the English classroom, hoping to see Kairi there but oddly enough she wasn't. Sora took a seat next to his friend Meg. There was barely enough time to exchange a greeting before the lesson started. An hour and a half later the bell rang, signalling recess. Sora got up and stretched before heading out to the oval with the rest of his friends.

Sora was chatting away to Roxas and Namine and noticed that Kairi still wasn't at school.

"Has anyone seen Kairi?" Sora asked the group.

"Oh she's at the dentist, she's coming soon though," Namine told him.

"Oh, okay…so who're people going to Selphie's with?" Sora asked glancing at Namine and Roxas slyly. They pretended not to notice him.

"Yuna and I are going together," Tidus grinned while Yuna smiled shyly.

"Aw!" the other's chorused.

"You two make a great couple!" Selphie squealed. This time Tidus blushed while Yuna grinned.

Selphie turned to Cloud. "Who're you going with Cloudey?" she asked.

"Oh wouldn't YOU like to know," Cloud said teasingly.

"C'mon you have to tell me!"

"You'll find out soon enough," Cloud said, and then he got up and walked over to where Wakka was playing blitz ball.

Sora thought he had a good idea who Cloud was taking, but decided not to say anything and ruin it. Just as he was about to ask Roxas who he was taking, he saw Kairi walking down the pavement that ran alongside the oval.

"Guys, I'll be right back," Sora called to the others as he made his way over to her.

"Hey Kai!" Sora said, jumping in front of her to surprise her.

"Oh! Hey Sora," Kairi said, looking a little guilty.

"So, what happened while I was away?" Sora said, seeking to give her an opportunity to explain.

"Sora! I'm sorry! It's not true. Don't believe what people are saying!"

"Kai-" Sora began.

"No let me explain!" Kairi cut him off. "Okay well after English I went to talk to Briar to tell him there was no way in hell I was going to go with him to Selphie's, and that I was going with you. And then he said, okay. And I was like, well he's taking this well, but I didn't worry about it. Then five minutes later there's this rumour going around that we're going out!" Kairi finished, red faced. "Please believe me Sora," She said pleadingly.

"Of course I believe you Kairi! I gave you the benefit of the doubt as soon as I heard it! I knew you would never do that."

Kairi looked relieved. "Oh! And I'm sorry about yelling at you. I know you don't think I'm your property and all that."

"Don't give it another thought Kai. Now I want you to close your eyes and hold out your hands."

Kairi looked surprised but did as Sora bid. He dug into his pocket and produced the charm bracelet. He dropped it into her hands and said "Okay now you can look!"

Kairi's mouth dropped open. "Sora!" She squealed, in a tone so high Sora winced. She hugged him, squeezing all of his breath out of his body. "I love it!"

"Does this mean you'll go with me to Selphie's?" Sora asked teasingly, already knowing the answer.

"It's a date!" Kairi said cheerfully.

All right all right, I know not very good but hey I finally updated! Wooot. I'm really sorry bout not updating but I got soooo busy with schoolwork it's not funny. But hey, just to make it up to you guys, it was extra long. I think it's the longest chapter I've ever written! Although it might not be very good. Anyway, any thoughts as to who Cloud's taking?

Oh and when he's like talking about apologising with the charm bracelet, I know that's a bit of a loophole there cause Kairi should be apologising but if you remember, Kairi was angry at Sora for saying she was his "possession" even though Sora didn't say that. Anyway yes I'm sure you understand what I'm rambling about.

Sora: Ooh ooh I know I know!

Me: Hush now pet we'll let them find out for themselves

Sora: Hey I'm not your pet


End file.
